Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Clip coupons:
You know all those free magazines that you'll find in your hotel
room? Take a quick look through 'em. Don't read the reviews—they'll be uni-
formly glowing, as the restaurant has paid for them to appear. Instead, troll for
discount coupons. And you know those sad looking folks handing out coupons
on the street—no, not the “card clickers” who will send a girl up to your hotel
room, the other bored looking people? Well, they often have in their grubby mitts
some valuable coupons—$2 off this buffet, or a free dessert helping, half-price
shows . . . you just never know. Collect them and use them, as they all add up.
And about those magazines (and newspapers) . . . :
They often simply alert you
to where the meal deals are. Particularly handy are the Friday papers and
Las Vegas
Magazine
for word of discounted eats. Also, keep an eye out as you're strolling or
driving through town for the marquees outside of casinos and restaurants advertis-
ing cheap meals. They're still out there, though you may have to hunt 'em down.
Abandon the strip, all ye who dine there:
Seriously, one of the best ways to eat
more and spend less (hmm . . . that's a mighty familiar sounding phrase) is to take
your meals off Las Vegas Boulevard...or at least off the section that begins at the
Stratosphere and ends at Mandalay Bay. And believe you me, you don't suffer by
doing this. If you look through this chapter, you'll find that most of the restau-
rants to which I've awarded three stars are not feeding tourists on the Strip.
They're held accountable by the local audiences they serve, and keep up their high
standards because they must rely on repeat business (unlike the Strip, where most
of the traffic is transient). So when you dine at Lotus of Siam (p. 101), or Lindo
Michoacan (p. 100), or Marché Bacchus (p. 113), you're eating in a much-loved
place, one that requires advance reservations (or a wait for dinner) because it is to
these eateries—and others—that residents go to celebrate wedding anniversaries,
birthdays, and all of those other important life events. I think you'll feel special,
too, when you're dining at these places, having discovered a side of Las Vegas that
very few visitors take the time to seek out. Did I mention they're also a good 30%
cheaper on average? 'Nuf said.
Our pricing symbols for meals:
$:
$8 and under
$$:
$9-$14
$$$:
$15-$19
$$$$:
$20 and up
From lunch-only joints to some of the snootiest and most outrageously overpriced
meals in Vegas, dining on the South Strip offers a wide range of options for the
hungry vacationer.
$-$$
One of the best places to grab a quick lunch in this area is
'wichcraft
55
(at the MGM Grand;
%
877/880-0880; www.mgmgrand.com; Sun-Thurs
10am-6pm, Fri-Sat 10am-8pm; AE, DISC, MC, V),
an upscale sandwich shop from
celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, where that knotty problem of how to keep food
between wedges of bread from tasting dry has happily been solved. Tom does it
by using only artisan, solid, sometimes nutty bread, and layering sandwiches with
